Ben 10: Spiritverse Volume 1: Trickster Natsumi
by Aine the Tsuntsun Lewd Girl
Summary: Just something I wrote out of boredom yesterday, Volume 4 of my other story is still scheduled next year, right now though, I have mixed feelings on which to do first. This is another crossover set after the events of my other in-progress one. Ben, who has recently returned back to his world after defeating Vilgax and Hayes, has now have a somewhat bigger problems to look for.
1. Chapter 1 - A Mysterious Encounter

Part 1

"So, this is the place…."

Rook said so as he goes out of the Proto-TRUK.

"Walking in this place just give me the creeps…"

Anyone who would set their foot into this desolate replace would likely say the same thoughts. It was an abandoned amusement park.

Its structures are slowly being retaken by nature, with vines crawling into the once was food stalls, rusted carousel rides that gave an appearance of a rotting corpse as well as dust covering everything there. It was really like a cut-out from a horror survival movie.

"So what are we doing on this place anyway!? It was only like a week ago when I came back in the world after being stuck into an alternate universe for like a year or so, only to find out that I'm only missing for a month and then they're giving us another that may not be related to aliens at all!"

Ben was rambling nonstop about all the problems he encountered in, as he now calls, the "Arcadia Universe", he doesn't hate those times though, since he made memorable moments with the girls from the Cross Freed Academy, especially with Lisha, Krulcifer, Phillufy, Celestia , Yoruka to some extent, and the entirety of the Knight Squadron who supported him as long as they can.

When suddenly──

A rustling noise came from the tall grass just in their right side. And what emerged from the tall grass was a woman.

A mature woman whose body build has a natural seductive aura, a flowing green-colored hair, and emerald-like eyes.

On top of that, the woman was wearing a witch's attire and was floating atop a broomstick which makes her resemble a legit witch.

"Puya!"

The woman, who was stretching, finally turned a gaze to Ben and Rook who were in front of her.

"We've got some visitors, huh…"

She then smiled at them which are tainted with maliciousness.

This caused Rook to aim his Proto-Tool at her and Ben to ready his Omnitrix.

"Looks like you two are enemies. It's a shame though; I really like that cute face of yours."

As she pointed to Ben, whose face turned red, she then rode her broomstick as if she was a comboy.

"Let's start the show! Haniel!"

As she shouted a name, Ben knows from experience that she activated something.

The tip of the broom, which has a mirror on it, shined brightly enough to blind them both for a moment.

Before they could notice, giant cupcakes are falling from the sky. They were of different flavors, some were chocolate, some have sprinkles on it and others are strawberry flavored. They are like giant boulders hurled by the sky.

Ben finally came to his senses and then dialed his Omnitrix. When he does so, the faces of his aliens are displayed as icons which are then presented in a circular hologram in groups of ten. The set are replaced as he continuously scrolls down into his desired alien form.

He slammed his Omnitrix and transformed into Crashhopper, a bulky, golem-like alien that controls gravity. He was the right alien that Ben needs right now.

Crashhopper jumped high in the air and kicked the cupcakes one by one, slamming them to each other which caused to crumble like rocks.

"Mou…. Why won't you two just give up and leave this helpless one-san alone?"

The woman is frowning at them. This is when Ben decided to converse with it.

"We won't leave unless you stop terrorizing the nearby town and until you say what exactly you are. Are you with Charmcaster's side!?"

Crashhopper who was now attempting to pressure the woman, backfired as it only made her laughed and then looked at them with a fixed gaze.

"I don't know who are you referring to but, I could really cast charm to both of you…"

The woman jokingly said and Crashhopper averted his eyes away from her. Rook however is unfazed from her sexual provocation.

(As expected, Rook is not interested to those who are not Revonnahgander.)

She then crossed her arms and continued speaking.

"Besides… I really couldn't call that terrorizing. I'm just having fun and then they started to call me a witch!"

The woman let out a big sigh, stating that she didn't do anything wrong causing Rook to press her further.

"Miss, there's nothing wrong with having fun. But you turned some of the civilians in that town into food and toys! It's not to be called fun anymore if you intend to harm others."

When Rook said that with a serious tone, the floating woman chuckled.

"Your personality is really comparable to a comic book hero and that makes me want to tease you more. It's a shame though, that you and your subordinate belong to those 'Wizards'."

Crashhopper and Rook couldn't understand her words as well as her putting emphasis to the word "Wizards".

"Regarding your other question, my name is Natsumi. You people seemed to call a Spirit and branded me as a Witch!"

When she said, *pomf* a large carrot missile appeared out of thin air and was fired into them.

Crashhopper intercepted the missile by kicking it which made it explode into a pink adhesive which could only be compared to a bubblegum.

The two of them were trapped but Rook freed himself with the Proto-Tool.

"Press the Omnitrix symbol, Rook! I'm getting tired of her magic tricks…"

"Here."

Rook pressed it and Ben turned to Heatblast, bursting in flames and melting away the sticky gum.

"Hyahahahaha! You seemed to have the similar abilities I have, why don't we join forces?"

"No. You already gave me enough of that magic of yours and you've pissed me because of that. Let's end this mess now."

After staying in the Atismata Empire, Ben's personality seemed to have a decreased tolerance to provocations and gets easily annoyed when someone pulls out underhanded tricks.

Heatblast's main ability is pyrokinesis but he has a limited terrakinesis that allows him to levitate large chunk of rocks and turn them into floating boards. As Heatblast flew off to Natsumi,

"!?"

An energy beam destroyed his board, but because of using flames from his hands as propulsion, Ben landed safely.

A medium force of robotic soldiers lead by a woman clad in silver mechanical armor which took Ben in surprise since it resembles a Drag-Ride. The unknown force then approached the three of them.

Part 2

"Stop! Aggression from authorities is a violation of the Intergalactic Law of Authority Protection section 6. Drop your weapons and identify yourself!"

Rook fired a warning shot but was repelled by the large sword the armored woman is carrying.

"Do you think I'm foolish enough to believe the nonsense you're saying? Just give that woman to us and we might as well spare you, inhuman monsters."

After the woman's declaration, Heatblast reverted back to being Ben and put up a confident smile.

"Here I am, putting another prideful woman into her place. Rook, call some reinforcements! I have a feeling that this is not their total numbers. I'll just make this woman swallow her pride."

"You really changed a bit, Ben."

After Ben declared that, the woman grinned.

"So it was you, Ben Tennyson. The famous hero known for his 'alien' transformations… We've been eyeing on you for quite some time now because we knew that you might someday interfere with our plans while doing your "hero business" and look at where we are now…"

"Say whatever you want, if you can still speak later."

Ben transformed into Diamondhead, another of his alien transformations as well as one the forms he invested time and effort in training.

Diamondhead slashed diagonally with his blade arm however──

It was sliced off clean by the large lase blade and Diamondhead distance himself while regenerating his cut arm.

"To think that the great 'Ben 10' is just as weak as this, maybe I expected so much from you. See, I'm not even serious."

The woman exclaimed that with a voice clearly with arrogance.

"Who the hell are you──?"

"I am Elen Mira Mathers, the world's strongest Wizard. And for the main reason we're here."

The robotic soldiers that accompanied Elen just now, made their move towards Natsumi.

"Those things again… There sure are many of them in stock! Let's go, Haniel!"

The tip of the broomstick shone again and several carrot missiles appeared. The adhesive gum inside it trapped the machines and some of them were destroyed by the explosion.

"Tch…"

Elen, clearly disappointed at what happened, began looking at Natsumi's direction.

"Your opponent is still here!"

Diamondhead thrown at what seemed to be a large crystal boomerang into her but that too was sliced off with inhuman reflexes. It was as if she already anticipated the attack.

"Resistance is futile, Ben 10! No matter what you do, you'll never defeat me."

Diamondhead switched back and turned to Feedback. Both of them charged at each other.

"Wha──!?"

Feedback managed to grab Elen's laser blade and absorbed its energy which he fired off as electricity in point-blank range.

Intense shock flowed within Elen's body that fell into Ben's surprise attack.

'T-That was a little unexpected… Hmph. Continue to entertain me, hero."

After that, Elen switched her laser blade, Caledfwlch, into her other weapon, Rhongomiant.

It was a large spear whose tip functions as firearm. Somehow, it gave him a feeling of nostalgia due to it reminding him of Celis.

The tip fired off an energy shot which Feedback absorbed and blasted back.

"Kuh…."

Elen then deployed an energy shield to protect her from the blast.

"So you finally found a counter to me, eh. But that's where you're miscalculated!"

Elen proudly proclaimed and fired a shot to Natsumi.

"Natsumi!"

Feedback took the shot and absorbed it.

He then fell right on top of Natsumi, causing them both to fall into the ground.

After noticing that he's on top of Natsumi, Feedback fixed his composure, shook his head and opened his eye,

"….did you saw?"

Natsumi was sending a sharp glance towards Feedback while saying that with a lower tone, different than their earlier conversation.

Towards the sudden change from the previously smug and energetic Natsumi, Feedback distanced himself to her.

"Saw what?"

"Don't play a fool! Just now my-my…!"

At that moment──

"Freeze! This is the Plumbers, surrender yourself and don't make any unnecessary actions."

Elen bit her lip, dropped her weapon, and raised her hands. The Plumbers took that as sign of surrender when,

"You fools."

Two hidden cannons protruded from Elen's suit, Pendragon's back wings .These are another set of armaments loaded in her suit, Vortigern. It fired off energy beams into the approaching Plumber officers, killing them.

The remaining officers opened fire to her but she evaded all of their attacks, moving in speed and reflexes that the officers cannot hope to match.

Blood spread everywhere. Corpses added one after another as Elen accelerated.

When Elen finished, she looked at Ben with an intense killing intent.

"There's too much intruders already, we'll just deal with that Spirit later. Let's dance again, Ben Tennyson."

After departing with a mischievous smile, Ben as Feedback diverted his vision again to Natsumi.

"Now that you have seen it, I cannot afford it to pass just like this…."

"You're going to pay for it. With your life…..!"

Like that, she pointed her fingers at Feedback and flew off into the sky with a tremendous speed.

"Ben!"

The injured Rook called out to him, but he was so lost into Natsumi's words that he didn't noticed Rook.

Part 3

In a large office room surrounded by windows, only the moonlight serves as illumination that dispels the darkness in the room. It was decorated by ornamental plants, book shelves, and multiple file cabinets.

In its northern end was a standard office table that lacks any visible materials or documents other than a glass of liquor. In its far right corner was an incense burner that fills the relative atmosphere with a rich aroma.

Seated beside the table was a man that seemed to be around his late to early thirties. He has an ash-gray colored hair, clothed in jet-black office coat with a white necktie.

The man stared at the busy city night just beneath his office and started speaking with someone within the direction of the darkened are of the room.

"So you failed to do your mission and even wasted our precious Bandersnatch units. These things would really take a toll on your pride, weren't they, miss 'Strongest Wizard'?"

He said that with a smile that was tinged with disappointment.

A figure emerged from the shadows and was illuminated by the moon's light.

It was a woman with a similar hair color as that of the man. She was the one who boasted the title of being the "World's Strongest Wizard" and the one who recently got into skirmished with a world-renowned hero──Ellen Mira Mathers.

"I apologize for that matter, Ike. It was a failure due to various circumstances one of these is because of the interruption from the so-called Plumbers. It looks like that they are going to be in the way of our plans, most especially _that boy_."

After hearing Elen's report, the man called Ike sipped from the glass and grinned.

"Ben Tennyson…Heh. I enjoyed watching his antics for a long time now. From his match with that fraud of a hero up to his countless heroic acts. Spirits and Aliens, who would've thought that these two things can coexist in our world…Not that surprising especially to those who knew about the other side of reality."

Ike stated this undeniable fact while staring in a distance.

"As for the matter of the Plumbers, avoid them as much as possible now. What you did Elen was a splendid mistake! Of course they have the technology to track us down. Never repeat this again, we cannot afford a fleet of spacecraft destroying our bases of operation.

"Understood."

Elen exited the room with a face of dismay.

She walked on multiple corridors until she reached on what appeared to be a laboratory and approached one of the scientists there.

"So how was the subject?"

"Still the same behavior as usual. He says that we spare him. However, he said he that he wants to talk about soothing special with you."

As this conversation went on, the scientist led Elen into a door which opened into an interrogation room. Seated in the opposite direction as her, was a rat-like alien capable of speech. This specific alien however was someone that Ben is well acquainted of and gave him various troubles in the past, Argit.

"O-Oh, it's you! "

"So what do you want, lowlife scum?"

Elen now changed her calm expression towards a serious one.

"W-Well, to put it simply….let's make a deal! I'll tell you all that you want to know in exchange of my freedom."

Argit turn a fixed glance to her while smiling mischievously.

"Then, tell me, how do I locate that Spirit friend of yours."

Argit tensed up after hearing her words.

She was clearly referring to Natsumi whom he had encountered before. She showed him her various tricks and even let him ride together in her broomstick. That moment felt heaven for Argit but it was also the reason why he was captured.

They first met when Argit was strolling on an open field when he suddenly saw a large spatial explosion from an area nearby.

Thinking that it was a weapon he could still recycle and sell, Argit rushed into the crater and found he dubbed as "the most beautiful human he had ever saw."

Natsumi noticed him and placed her hand into her mouth as if taken aback by surprise.

"Am I just seeing things or there is really a large standing rat in front of me?"

"I-Im real, O-Of course!"

Argit said that while revealing a smile traced with perversion.

"In that case, would you be the pet to your gorgeous master?"

He didn't utter any word and just nodded. It was completely evident he was totally charmed by Natsumi's beauty.

"Then──"

Several moments later, Argit became a toy for Natsumi to play with it. She gestured as if wielding a magic wand in her hand.

She tried various outfits to Argit and turned him into a dog, but was reverted back.

Suddenly──

Several robotic soldiers, Bandersnatch, alongside with some women armed with mechanical suits, appeared in the sky and were approaching them.

"Wanna ride?"

Argit jumped in without hesitating. Together they flew but as the explosions caused my missile bombardment continued, he was knocked off from the broom began free-falling.

"Oops."

He was then captured in the hand of one of the women and they landed safely.

After that, he broke free from her and shot quills that made her fell asleep. It was at this moment when Elen approached him.

He tried to the same to her but she blocked the quills with an energy barrier. She then him by the throat and squeezed it until he lost consciousness.

Argit recalled all of that and before he fell, he attached a tracker to Natsumi's broomstick in hopes that he'll find her if ever that they got separated.

Back in the interrogation,

Argit handed over the tracking device to Elen.

"Interesting... Examine this immediately."

Elen handed the device to the scientists that accompanied her in the room.

"Can I go out now?"

Argit said that with an optimistic smile.

"No. You will still serve some purpose to me."

Part 4

Two days after their encounter with Natsumi,

"With everyone now here, let's begin the discussion."

Ben held a meeting with his group along with his grandfather, Max Tennyson.

"This better be important, Ben. I'm still revising my thesis so──"

Kevin interrupted Gwen who was still speaking

"Gwen's right, Ben. Am too was also studying for my special exam tomorrow!"

"Calm down you two. Ben and Rook has important things to say."

The room was filled with a tense atmosphere

When Ben was about to speak, Rook stood up and begun explaining the subject of the meeting.

"This is about the beings called 'Spirits', and me and Ben arranged this meeting, Magister Tennyson, to know information about the subject matter and to also know about the human called Elen Mira Mathers who killed all the Plumbers who responded to our support request."

Gwen and Kevin who were seated in front of Ben and Rook was stuck in awe, seemingly lost in thoughts for what Rook had said.

"This is all I've gathered, Magister Blonko."

Max presented multiple documents using holograms.

"All of you probably knew about the large explosion, termed as 'spacequakes' that ravaged the land of Eurasia 30 years ago."

"And similar smaller events occurred after the following months?"

Gwen interjected Max ho was speaking in a clear serious tone.

"Not only that. And that these extradimensional beings called Spirits began appearing in Asia, with the number of appearances mostly focused on the island country of Japan."

"So what can these 'Spirits' exactly do?"

Kevin who was drinking cola, replied and then Max who was showing an even serious atmosphere.

"They are the source of the 'spacequakes'. And as of now, there is another reported sighting of a Spirit codenamed Princess in Japan but we should deal first with our own Spirit problems here in the US. As for the identity of this Elen Mathers…."

Ben tensed up upon hearing that name. Max somehow noticed his expression and continued speaking.

"Based on our investigation team, Elen Mira Mathers is the secretary of Isaac Ray Pelham Wescott, one of Deus Ex Machina Industries' chief executives. Deus Ex Machina Industries also known as DEM, on the other hand was the world's largest distributor and manufacturer of the Realizer, a blooming technology that most of the world uses. It too is among the largest companies in the world."

"If I remember correctly, this DEM Industries has ties with various governments including ours. I saw news about their representatives having a meeting with the Vice-President just earlier this morning."

Gwen said that while them an article about that on her phone.

"Directly confronting would tantamount to opposing the world's governments. Do you understand that Ben?"

"I know. But….that Elen, there's something wrong about her. She's not a human."

All of them fell silent with Rook breaking the ice and returning the discussion back to its track.

"Ben maybe was pertaining about that Elen Mathers' abilities, her reflexes are indeed beyond human capabilities but I guess that it's because of that suit she is wearing from that time."

"Regarding this Spirit that appeared in our country, she is codenamed Witch by various organizations that deals with Spirits and as you two said, her name was Natsumi. Maybe she flew off back to Japan if we're to use her name as basis."

Max chuckled for a bit but──

"No she won't."

Ben was clearly showing a worried and somewhat serious expression. He then continued speaking.

"She made a declaration to kill me after 'supposedly' seeing whatever thing she was hiding… She'll be back and I know that she'll come after me."

After revealing his honest feelings about the subject, He then looked to Gwen.

"Gwen, I need your help in tracking her. She uses large-scale magic too which means that she has a vast mana in her."

Gwen, who was Ben were talking too, was shocked after hearing his statement.

"D-Did you smack your head somewhere when you disappeared? You seemed to have changed your personality a bit over these past days."

As their meeting ended and night befalls again into Earth, Ben went to his room and jumped to his bed.

However he couldn't sleep because of thinking about the things he knew about the Spirits but got tired and decide to once again try to sleep.

When Ben was about to close his eyes, he saw a familiar silhouette in his room's window.

"Vilgax!?"

Ben then rushed into the window but saw nothing there. He then opened it and began dialing his Omnitrix. He chose Ditto, a small humanoid the size of a small child wearing a green jumpsuit.

Ditto duplicated his self into six clones and began searching around their house.

Several minutes passed and the Dittos' searched turned up nothing when suddenly──

"Guah…!?"

One of the Ditto clones were thrown and impacted on a tree, causing the others to feel the same pain the thrown clone felt.

The one who did that was a large, brown dinosaur-like creature with a humanoid built.

"H-Humungousaur!?"

The other Dittos identified who the intruder was, rejoined into one and reverted back to Ben.

Part 5

Ben was facing now the being that was in front of him. It was Humongousaur, Omnitrix's DNA sample of Vaxasaurian.

However, when he looked at its Omnitrix symbol, it was not red but rather mint-green, excluding the possibility that it was Albedo.

He then tried to figure who the Humungousaur in front of him was by recalling the evil alternate selves that Ben fought in the past. Benzarro, Nega Ben, Mad Ben and… Bad Ben.

"Well, if it isn't the edgy troublesome me. Wanna fight? Then I'll give it to you."

Ben slammed his Omnitrix, turning him into a bulky humanoid wearing a hazmat suit. Far from his intended alien that was Kickin Hawk

"NRG? More than enough to defeat you."

As NRG declared that, he fired off an energy beam from the slits on his helmet into Humungousaur.

"Wha──!?"

A mint-green colored light flashed and Humungousar turned to Big Chill which proceeded to pass through him, freezing NRG solid.

However due to NRG's massive internal heat, the ice covering melted.

NRG reverted back to being Ben and transformed into Ghostfreak.

Ghostfreak sprouted the tentacles on his chest to ensnare Big Chill and hurl him into the streets.

The mint-green light that signifies Bad Ben's transformation shone again and Big Chill turned to Crabdozer.

"What the hell! That's impossi──"

Before Ben could even finish talking, Crabdozer charged at him but due Ghostfreak's intangibility, he avoided its charge.

Ghostfreak switched to Armodrillo and hit Crabdozer in the face with a jackhammer punch.

Crabdozer was blown away by the attack and was reverted back.

Armodrillo too transformed back to being Ban and went to the direction of his enemy.

What he saw was himself and not the person he thought it was.

"Just like what I thought. It's you disguising again as me, Albedo. But…. how did──you were supposed to be rotting in prison now!"

As Ben yelled like that the figure apparently posing as him, stood up and began to grin.

"You don't know me? Maybe you should remember what had happened a few days ago."

Ben, taken aback by his clone's words, began to do so and remembered a phrase that he heard before

 _You seemed to have the similar abilities I have_ , words that Natsumi said to him after seeing him transform.

"D-Don't tell you'r──!?"

He was in an even bigger sock after realizing who the entity in front of him was.

It was Natsumi. Who used her power of transformation to guise herself into that of Ben's image as well as copy his transformations.

"You're really famous, aren't you? That's what saved me the trouble of finding out who you really were."

She found out Ben's identity by using the information about him pasted on both Internet and Extranet.

Natsumi, currently disguised as Ben, brought her index finger into her mouth and quickly pulled it back, gesturing that she made a thought.

"How about we play a game? A hide-and-seek, hero-san. Tomorrow is the start, I'll transform into a person related to you and if you guessed wrong, the real one will disappear."

Ben's eyes widened at the figure's sudden declaration who then proceed to laugh that was brimming with malicious intent.

"Why are you doing this?"

He asked her with an angry tone but Natsumi only chuckled and pointed her finger at him.

"Didn't I tell you that you'll pay for seeing my secret? If there's anyone to be blamed for their soon disappearance, it'll be none other than you."

With that, Natsumi's broomstick, Haniel, appeared before her and a light flash on its mirror tip. When the light dissipated, she disappeared.

Ben's face turned into a serious one and proceeded to call Gwen.

"B-Ben? It's in the middle of the night now. Did something happen?"

"Yeah. Natsumi appeared and attacked me. Be careful, Gwen. She said that she's going to do hide-and-seek by disguising as people close to me and that includes you. I have to find her starting tomorrow and if not, she'll do something to you and the others."

Gwen knows the seriousness of the matter just by judging at Ben's words.

"I know. I'll be careful."

As the call ended, Ben stared at the night sky.


	2. Chapter 2 - First Victim

Part 1

While in the Undertown,

"Was this really necessary, Ben?"

As Wildmutt finished sniffing things around especially Rook, he reverted back to being Ben.

"Bear with it Rook, now our next stop is…. I'm having doubts about this…"

Ben made a small sigh and looked at the building in front of them. It was 's shop.

Just as they step inside,

"N-N-No Ben, no transformations!"  
There in the counter was who was clearly in panic as soon as seeing Ben due to his store and car being always unintentionally destroyed by Ben.

"Relax, Mr. Baumann. We're just investigating something."

As soon as he said that, he once again transformed to Wildmutt and began searching the store.

could not help but pull his hair but then received a tap on his shoulder by Rook.

"Don't worry, Mr. Baumann. This is just something urgent."

Wildmutt then returned to Rook, shook his head, and transformed back.

"Nothing here either. Did you notice any strange human costumers recently, Mr. Baumann?"

When Ben asked that, He only glared at him that is tinged with annoyance.

"Nothing. Why do you even ask!?"

He answered them as if rejecting the notion only for Ben and Rook to look at him with serious expressions.

"Please, Mr. Baumann, we need your help!"

Ben pleaded him, and as if seeing the seriousness in Ben's words, he nodded and started recalling the faces of the human customers he encountered for the past days.

"Not that I know any but──but, there's this woman with a really terrifying foxlike gaze wearing military uniform asking about a woman with a green hair. When I replied no to her, she said that she'll come back af──Oh no! Help me Ben! Tomorrow will be the date that she said she'll return after our encounter last week!"

After Mr. Baumann said that with an anxious voice, Ben replied as if to reassure him.

"Don't worry; we'll be back here tomorrow."

The two then left the shop and rod the Proto-TRUK, exiting Undertown.

While driving the Proto-TRUK, Rook sighed and began talking about something.

"I cannot believe that the DEM Industries would go as far as visit Undertown just to search for Natsumi."

Ben replied uninterestedly to what Rook had said.

"They really seemed to be very desperate to me much like Vilgax, doing anything just to get their hands into Natsumi and probably the rest of the Spirits."

"DEM is a manufacturer of the Realizer technology as what Miss Gwen's analysis of it yielded; it seemed to have a trace of mana in it, maybe their using these 'Spirits' as a means of energy source for their technology."

"And if that's true, then we have no choice but to stop them from doing these devilish things. DEM….. I'm really going to go all-out against Elen if we ever meet again. She's not an enemy to be underestimated…. Truly befitting the title that she boasts. That hit with Feedback was just a chanced counter because she didn't Feedback's abilities yet and I don't think that it'll work out against her again."

"I understand you, Ben. But we should deal with Natsumi first and reconcile with her before she could be put into our protection."

"Right."

As soon as the two's conversation finished, an explosion occurred behind Proto-TRUK who was only meters away from Undertown's hidden exit.

"Those are──!?"

Rook was shocked after he realized what the attackers were. They were the same humanoid robots that accompanied Elen during their first fight, the Bandersnatch units.

"So they managed to track us down huh…"

Ben open the Proto-TRUK's door on him side and went out as Lodestar, a metallic humanoid with a floating head and tuning fork-like hands that is one of Ben's many transformations.

Lodestar then began magnetizing the Bandersnatch units one by one which then overloaded their circuitry, causing most of the Bandersnatch to shut down while the others exploded.

He also used his magnetism to fling other Bandersnatch into their allies' direction, hitting each other and causing them to crash into the ground.

One of the Bandersnatch caught Lodestar off-guard and blasted him into bits with a missile.

But due to his regenerative abilities, Lodestar reassembled himself whole and magnetized the remaining Bandersnatch, destroying them.

"This is a larger force than that of before! Watch, out Ben, those armed humans might appear again!"

Rook exclaimed and Ben nodded. He then reverted back and transformed into a large slime-green colored humanoid creature bearing resemblance to a fly.

Stinkfly flew around the area to survey their surroundings for the possible next enemy confrontation.

"Nothing here, maybe they only send out the goons this time."

Stinkly transformed back to Ben and received a call from his Omnitrix, It was his grandfather, Max Tennyson.

"How are things Grandpa Max?"

"Things had quite improved now since we were able to contact a certain organization that also deals with Spirits but not in a violent way compared to DEM, they instead are trying to achieve mutual understanding and cooperation. There are some problems however…"

During yesterday's meeting, Ben asked Max to help them investigate about the Spirits and anything connected to it. Max listed out the main two distributor companies of Realizers, them being DEM Industries and Asgard Electronics.

He sent out a mail to Asgard Electronics as a Plumber representative to know if they have any involvement with Spirits. Max wasn't surprised that they are involved in this, afterall, Asgard Electronics is the only company that rivals DEM Industries.

He then conveyed what their reply was to Ben which is currently on the phone.

"So that's It eh, we need to deal first with our troublesome Natsumi to prove that we are worthy of cooperation? They clearly don't know the Plumbers are capable of."

Ben let out a big sigh at this sudden realization.

"I forgot to mention that their split organization who deals firsthand with Spirit, the Ratatoskr, is at Japan that's why we couldn't leave yet and meet them."

He only made a more tired look on his face, said his goodbyes to his grandpa and ended the call.

"there's still eleven and a half hours before midnight Ben, where should we start first?"

Hearing that, Ben showed a fearless expression and looked at Rook as if the answer was obvious.

"To Friedkin University of course."

Part 2

Arriving at the university,

Rook feels somewhat troubled due to the fact that Ben would cause again just like last time they visited here and that might allow Natsumi, if she's really here, to escape easily.

While drinking a smoothie, Ben exited the Proto-TRUK and walked towards the campus entrance.

As soon as he entered, the several students who is currently on break or doesn't have schedule during this time of the day took notice of Ben and began forming a commotion around him.

(What a disaster!)

Ben thought to himself, but before the crowd of students overwhelms him, he took notice of a hooded figure from a distance that seemed to be in a hurry.

Seeing this as a sign that it might be Natsumi, Ben activated the Omnitrix's voice command option to transform him and free him from the crowd of the students.

"Omnitrix Voice Selection Mode: Vulpimancer"

The Omnitrix registered the command and transformed to Wildmutt and chased after the hooded figure.

It however tripped, allowing Ben to catch up and grabbed the hooded figure. When he however, pulled the hoodie out to reveal the figure's face, he was surprised to find a middle-aged Caucasian man roughly at his mid-forties wearing glasses.

Wildmutt distanced himself from the man and transformed back to Ben.

"I-Im terribly sorry, Mister. I mistook you for somebody else..."

Ben bowed his head to apologize and the man forced a wry smile and scratched his head.

"No it's nothing; it happens to me most of the time."

As they are conversing; Gwen who has heard of the commotion, rushed outside to see what is going on.

"Ben? What are you guys doing here!?"

After seeing Gwen walked into them, Ben once again transformed into Wildmutt to check is she was truly herself.

"H-Hey! What's with this sniffing around?"

Seeing that she really is Gwen, Ben transformed back.

"Can't be too sure, Natsumi is on hiding."

Gwen sighed and looked at Ben with disappointment only to be met with Ben scratching his cheek

"So why are you two here exactly?"

"We're looking for──"

Before Rook could finish his sentence, Ben gleefully interjected with a trace of annoyance in his words

"Apparently, we only came here to check on you so that "that" shapeshifting woman won't take the place of my good cousin studying well in the university! And…. We need your help to find that brat quickly."

The disappointed expression still in Gwen's face and then she turned around to guide them inside one of the campus buildings.

"By the way, who's that guy from before?"

"He's Professor Albert Lomidze, one of the faculty members."

"Eh──!?"

Ben could not help but be surprised to the fact than Gwen said. He most definitely saw him as a regular student; this only made Ben be filled with embarrassment from their encounter.

A dim lit corridor greets their front with an old looking wooden door at the end of it bearing the motif of a large tree.

The tree of them proceeded to enter the room, revealing numerous bookshelves but its numbers are fewer compared to that of the main campus library. In its far right corner were three computer monitors with the middle one currently powered on.

"Gwendolyn? Is there something of matter today? Oh, it's been a while, Ben."

A large man with a pale skin and black colored cheeks dressed in a red tuxedo greeted them.

It was Professor Hex, one of Ben's former enemies who had changed his way of living a while back and decided to teach in this academy.

"Yeah, you see Hex, we're searching for someone. Mind lending us a hand?"

Hex nodded and approaches the computer nearest to him clicking the mouse to show a website to the three.

"Gwendolyn already informed me about it earlier and I tried to research a bit."

The website was in Japanese which made Hex to use a spell that will translate the text into a readable language. It was a paranormal forum with the highlighted subjects being about "Extradimensional Entities and Spacequakes"

Hex clicked the top post and what is attached to it was a picture of a destroyed part of a city and at the far distance of the picture above the pile of rubbles, was a humanoid figure floating mid-air.

The original poster stated that he took this shot after sneaking pass the security during a spacequake alarm and that he also saw military officers in the vicinity.

"This and what Gwendolyn told me were all I knew regarding these 'Spirits' so I'm figuring that you know more than I do."

Ben gasped at what Hex just did moments ago.

"Can't believe that a former mage is this adept at using technology…"

"Sometimes you just need to go and familiarize yourself with the modern society… but that's not all though, there's no reported sightings regarding these beings were written except for one event that I think is related…"

"The Eurasia Sky Disaster, the very first and the largest spacequake that had occurred 30 years ago."

Gwen joined their talk while reading her open notes.

"I too researched about it last night after our meeting."

As their talk progressed, Ben seated on one of the chairs there and then──

"You even gathered some students just to assist me in my research. That may be too much for you Prof. Hex."

It was the man from the earlier, Albert Lomidze, which is an Information & Communication professor at the college.

Ben showed a shocked expression and the man only smiled wryly.

"Don't think about it, they too were pursuing the same subject."

Hex then introduced him briefly but since Ben and Rook already know who he is, they didn't bother.

"So what do we need to talk about?"

Albert said so and wiped his glasses

"A Spirit that is currently here in America and she also is after me."

He fell silent for a few moments and looked at Ben.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, and she even threatened me and this 'game' after I supposedly saw her secret which I didn't, I don't even know what that is. This is why we're on the search for her."

At this instant, Hex crossed his arms and began to speak to Ben.

"We can't figure that out if we don't know what that Spirit is capable of aside from expelling vast amounts of mana and summoning spacequakes."

"She can make things appear out of nothing just like a carrot missile! Would you believe that!? And that she could mimic my transformations and use their powers as well as use their abilities and she even turned into a different monster altogether!"

Ben frantically spoke everything he knows about Natsumi's abilities.

"Mimicking others? Hmm…. What makes you think that she could conjure things? She maybe transformed the air into her image of liking. I have a spell book somewhere here in the library that lists a spell that can do the same feat. So it appears that she can transform not just herself but anything around her and that her 'secret' might be her real appearance which is why she is after you."

Ben looked in awe at Hex's lecture only to be followed by a murmur from Gwen that didn't fell to anybody's ears.

(As expected from the university's best professor!)

"I-I only know of the Spirit codenamed Princess and as far as my sources go, she's the only Spirit who has been pictured albeit she's not clearly depicted.

Albert spoke with an unease tone and adjusted his glasses.

"Her codename was Witch. Not only that though, she's being followed by the DEM."

 _DEM Industries_

The mentioning of that organization sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to accidentally drop his smartphone at the floor.

"They're making a move now in the US…Damnit. I thought I could now hide from them and live a peaceful life."

Albert bit his lip and droplets of sweat began forming on his forehead.

Ben took notice of this and asked him in a serious tone.

"Do you know something, Professor Albert?"

"E-Eh!?... Uh.. mayb──"

His words made Albert become more nervous but Gwen and Rook looked at him directly and nodded at him, signaling him to give in which he did.

"I'm an Electronics Engineer working for DEM Industries until I quitted about 5 years ago when they captured what they dubbed as "The Second Spirit". I was working for an 'interrogation room' at that time with my team, installing various sensors and energy field as well security cameras. That room by far was the most secured area within our building. The one they brought there… Oh god… I still can't sleep normally after all these years…"

The atmosphere within the room became tense after Albert's confession and there were tears forming in his eyes, the four other people there were bewildered and a few moments past and Hex break the ice to resume the conversation.

"It's alright Albert, you said too much. Don't force yourse──"

"No. This is the least that I could do. Keeping all these from myself for years really pained me and now that I know there's someone that would believe my story and it's a superhero at that and not just the authorities who may either just laugh at me or report me to the DEM. They have plenty of ears which is why I started my new life and identity here in the college…"

Hex tapped his co-worker's shoulder and Albert wiped his tears and continued talking.

"That girl was of an Asian descent, particularly Japanese, and was in her late teens. They exposed her to horrendous torture ranging from electrocution, lacerations and sexual abuse as far as I could remember. I, along with the other engineers there and our crews were the ones who perform the maintenance of that room. I once asked my superior why they are doing this only for him to grin and mutter "to turn into its true form". "

Hearing all of this, Ben clinched his fists and his anger for the DEM Industries only grew.

"The torture continued for months but they healed her physical injuries each time. And then one day, I performed a system check from the control room alone of that cell which is separated with a thick wall of glass. Only few of my crew and co-workers remained on that hellhole as they one by one resigned. I only remained there as I needed money for my brother's hospitalization also, I haven't heard from my co-workers for a long time now and I now assumed they were silenced."

Albert uttered a small laugh and was interjected by Rook.

"This is clearly a severe violation of the Intergalactic Law and the laws of Earth!"

"True that. But once you're in power such things doesn't matter."

He cleared his throat and was handed a handkerchief by Gwen.

"Thanks. As I performed the maintenance, she stared at me. I was creeped out at that time but felt sympathy for her. She began to utter words, but those are only two words: 'Help me'. Just a day after that, when I went into the room I find its door tight shut and windows covered. My superior said that the Spirit succumbed into a comatose state and that she was moved into an observation room underground. Suffering from the nightmares that followed, I quit the job. Packed all the things in my house, and then sold it. Together with my savings, I changed my name and flew off here in US. I've been hiding ever since. But one I watched your heroic acts, Ben Tennyson, I couldn't help but feel hope that with you around, someday those bastards would get what they deserve."

Albert exhaled as if to have felt a relief that he had long been desired.

"I know that it is a very sad story but, how would this exactly help us finding the Witch?"

Ben said that with a worried voice and then the earlier atmosphere went back into the room.

"I forgot to say but, I still have one of those sensors that trace the energy residues or what they called 'mana' in my apartment. That one though was malfunctioning but if we could restore it, you can use it to trace the Spirit you are finding. "

Ben smiled and looked at Rook only for him to tilt his head.

"Before we could go into your home, Mr. Ludze, we'll just pick up another friend to help fix it."

"Oh sure, here's my call card."

Ben took the card from Albert's hand and went outside the room but before he could close the door, he glanced at Gwen.

"Hey Gwendolyn, do you know where Kevin is?"

"He said that he too wants to go and search for this 'Natsumi' together with Zed."

"Oh boy, I don't like where this is going."

Ben and Rook hurried to exit the campus and rode in the Proto-TRUK

Part 3

"Keviiiiiin!"

"Looks like he's not here"

Rook assumed so as they received no reply.

After hearing from Gwen that Kevin decided to search for Natsumi on his own and hasn't returned yet, they went to the first place they could think of, his new home.

"Only one way to find out."

Ben tapped the Omnitrix to show the holographic selection wheel that displayed icons resembling his alien's heads. After making a choice, Ben slammed the Omnitrix and transformed into a blue, muscular, moth-like creature with bat wings, Big Chill.

Big Chill went intangible and searched on Kevin's home. After several minutes, he went outside and reverted back.

"He's really not here, damn. We should've checked him earlier…"

Ben became lost in thoughts because one of his worries is starting to became real .

"Should we check on him in the Undertown? Must be together with Argit."

"Argit is also for a few days now."

Rook tried to provide more places but Ben rejected the notion. They are now running out of places on which Kevin might possible be at when Ben remembered that there is only one place left, his mother's house.

Rook and Ben emerged from the Proto-TRUK and looked at a two-story high house surrounded by a fence.

The two went into the front gate and rang the doorbell. Immediately, a Caucasian woman stepped outside the door and greeted them at the gate.

"It's rarely seeing you around here, Ben. Did Kevin give you troubles lately? And who is this new friend of yours"

The woman standing before them was none other than , Kevin's mom.

"He is Rook Blonko, my tag-along partner and I'm terribly sorry if I'm disturbing you, Mrs. Levin but, did Kevin happen to pass-by? He's been missing since this morning and it maybe my fault. I have a big problem and asked him and Gwen for help to search for someone…"

"You're always welcome here Ben so don't worry about it. As for the matter of Kevin, no he didn't. Last time I checked on him was he reviewing for examinations. However, Zed came home alone just an hour ago. Zed! Greet our visitors here."

As Mrs. Levin called out, the blue armored alien dog that previously belonged to Khyber, Zed, which is now Kevin's dog went outside and approached them. Ben patted her but the creature hesitated for a minute but didn't mind now.

"Hey sweetie, do you know where Kevin is?"

Zed stood up and began barking while looking at Mrs. Levin which somewhat understand what she were trying to say.

"Okay. You can tag along with them and Ben, after you found out where Kevin is, can you say to him to not leave her pet alone? Poor girl looks unenergetic when she went home."

"Don't worry, . We'll handle this. Let's go Zed!"

Ben and Rook together with Zed, boarded the Proto-TRUK and drove away.

Their first stop was a mall and pets aren't allowed inside however, Zed ran away causing the security guards to go after her.

"Leave this to me."

Ben stopped the two security guards then dialed and slammed his Omnitrix, transforming him into a reptilian humanoid boasting a black and green color scheme. It was his high-speed alien, XLR8.

XLR8 caught her up but she was trying to let go of herself.

"Calm down there buddy, why did run from me? Do you still hate me?"

However, Zed was barking on the direction just in their left. What Zed was barking at was a man with grey long sleeves atop a black shirt.

"Ben!"

Rook shouted as he hurried into them evidently tired from the run.

"Rook, take Zed with you for the meantime and don't let her follow me."

This still doesn't seemed make Zed calm and still wants to pursue.

"I'm sorry, but that might be the shapeshifter. You probably know who that was if you encountered it. It is dangerous, so don't follow and be a good girl okay?"

As soon as he said that, Zed whined and sat on the floor.

XLR8 wore his visor and began pursuing what they assumed to be Kevin or even Natsumi.

He ran multiple times across the mall but he couldn't find the man so he proceeded to the parking area to search again.

What he came across however was Kevin's car.

"This isn't coincidence. He must have really disappeared… I'll definitely make a way to bring you back, pal."

Ben transformed back and contacted Rook.

"Did you find him, Ben? No, but I found his car. Natsumi won this time."

A moment of silence had passed before Rook could reply

"I'll be there right away."

As soon as the call ended, Argit, out of nowhere, approached Ben.

"Seems like we're having some troubles eh, Ben?"

He was shocked on who that person behind him is. He transformed into Rath.

Rath pummeled him down and began questioning him

"LEMME TELL YA SOMETHING YOU BIG RAT! DO YOU KNOW WHERE KEVIN IS?"

"N-No! Seriously, I don't know! I never even knew he was missing since I was imprisoned by the organization called DEM and only had escaped hours ago!"

Rath let go of him and transformed back to being Ben.

The two continued conversing with Argit flexing his right arm.

"So why was Kevin missing?"

"He tried to help me find a girl named Natsumi alone and that girl really hates me which is why I think she took Kevin."

Argit jumped back after hearing what Ben had said. He then lunged at him and grabbed his shirt.

"Natsumi? What are you planning doing to my precious Natsumi huh!?"

Ben too was confused on what Argit had just said.

"You know her? Well that's not the issue here! Natsumi is now doing what she called "hide-and-seek" and started taking people close to me one by one if I guessed wrong and she started with Kevin!"

Argit widened his eyes on this statement and began retorting to Ben.

"Natsumi wouldn't do that! The hell are you talking, Ben? She's a really nice person and maybe you did something to her!"

"I didn't! Anyways, I have other things to do so if you're not going to help, then just leave."

Ben transformed into Upgrade and merged with Kevin's car but before he went,

"Wait, Ben! I'll come along! I want to see Natsumi too!"

Upgrade hesitated but let out a sigh and opens one of the car doors.

Rook finally found Ben and was surprised to see the other individual beside him.

"Argit? I thought you were missing?"

"Yeah, but that was a few hours ago. Now that everyone is here, let's go!"

Argit shouted enthusiastically and the car began moving.

Part 4

The trio arrived on the apartment complex where Professor Albert resides. It was a fairly large apartment complex with five floors.

"Room 310….Oh, it's over there!"

Rook pointed out to the farthest room in the third floor. They entered the room and what greeted them was an assortment of documents that scattered everywhere.

Some were in the futon and table, while others were in the floor.

Rook picked up one of the papers and found out that it was about a manga artist named Souji Honjou and her sudden disappearance. Stated in the paper was that Souji Honjou disappeared suddenly from the manga industry because of a dispute with her editor.

Before finishing the article, Albert was still sipping his coffee when he saw them.

"Took you later than I thought and is this the friend that you're talking about?"

Albert stared at Argit with confused eyes.

"No. He just tagged along because he wants to see his 'precious Witch'. The friend that I mentioned before was missing and I have a feeling that Natsumi did this as a part of her 'game'. "

"Don't worry buddy, I'm here to help them."

Argit smiled at Albert only to be met with a sigh.

"By the way, what's with all these scattered papers?"

Ben asked him while looking at the messy floor.

"Remember my story earlier? Souji Honjou was the identity of the Spirit that was imprisoned in that DEM facility."

Ben and Rook was surprised at the information that this Professor Albert had revealed while Argit narrowed his eyes and formed a faint smile.

"Looks like we're in for something dangerous eh?"

Albert instructed them to sit in the couch first and wait for him as he get the item that he wants to give them, a sensor-type Realizer specified for detecting mana emissions.

Few moments after, Albert arrived to the living room carrying a medium-sized box which he carefully placed at the floor. He opened the box and showed them the content

"Here it is. To be honest, I don't know if it's still functional."

Inside was a black-metal device with a bit semblance to a large flashlight albeit without a lens and was cylindrical in shape.

"This doesn't look like an alien device but it's technological level were at 4 or 5. DEM Industries is still going rampant eh? Due to the Realizers, Earth's minimum level clearance became near 3. However, those Combat Realizers made by DEM is at 7 or even greater than 12! Especially that of Elen's…"

As Argit finished examining the device, Albert frowned at Argit.

"You seemed to knowledgeable regarding DEM's tech."

"Well you see, I'm a weapon broker that was imprisoned by the DEM for interrogation."

As the two conversed, Ben began pressing his Omnitrix and transformed into Grey Matter and analyzes the device.

"Let's see here…"

Grey Matter began poking around the device until he opened a hatch that revealed the internal circuitry.

"Hmm…. One of the main wirings connected to the power source were lacking in length. Do you a spare wire?"

Albert nodded, proceeded into his room and brought out a disassembled device.

"This one is a different device but their construction is similar. See if you can find any replacement parts."

He gave the other device to Grey Matter who continued working on the Realizer.

After several minutes had passed, Grey Matter rested into the couch and reverted back to Ben.

"Phew. That was hard."

The repaired device was then turned on by Rook, displayed in its monitor on the side were numerical and graphical data displayed at zero.

"Are you ready, Ben?"

Rook looked at Ben only for him to smile back that tinged with confidence.

"Yeah. Natsumi's game ends tomorrow. "


	3. Chapter 3 - Witch Hunt

**Part 1**

It was sunny normal day for the busy streets of Bellwood however,

*Elephant shrieking*

A large humanoid elephant was thrown off from the road into a nearby river.

"Sorry, Trumbipulor. I'm quite in a hurry right now, you see..."

Four Arms reverted back to being Ben and glanced at Rooks who was still analyzing the device Albert gave them.

"This is a level 6 Technology according to Magister Tennyson… The Plumbers couldn't help but just observe the blooming of Realizer technology since they already saw it as a sign of Earth's technology rising…"

Ben pondered as if to recall something from yesterday's mess.

"Now that I remember, said something important right?"

Rook stared for a little bit and then remembered that asks for their help to defend him from the DEM Industries.

The two, having agreed what to do, headed back to the Proto-TRUK and drove away into 's aid.

Hordes of alien civilians were running away from a direction. That specific direction was that of 's shop.

The Proto-TRUK approached the scene only to be met by a scenery of destruction. The shop was in shambles, rubbles littered in the vicinity.

Ben and Rook rushed out of the truck and went inside the destroyed building.

What they have found inside was a redhead woman of an average height wearing a crimson mechanical armor. She is holding by the neck.

The woman noticed the two figures behind her and stared at them grinning.

"B-Ben… H-Hel… me…"

The woman tossed him aside into the nearby pile of rubbles, wounding Mr. Baumann and knocked him unconscious.

"It saves me a lot of time having to rat you out eh, "Ben 10"."

Ben's face turned into a serious expression and glared at her.

"I thought your organization is only after Spirits, so why are you involving civilians?"

His angered tone only made the woman in front of him laugh maniacally.

"Pffft…HAHAHAHAHA! These cretins? Civilians? They're nothing but polluting our planet! Earth is only for humans and neither for Spirits and Aliens alike!"

After her declaration, the woman aimed a rifle at them but they dodged it with ease.

Rook turned the Proto-Tool into a grappler-like device to pull a large rubble and drop it above the woman.

"Now, Ben!"

Ben and nodded and dialed his Omnitrix. What he transformed into was not an alien that he knows. It was a tall, brownish, muscular alien with vent-like openings in place of a mouth.

"A new alien at this time? Better try what think guy could do."

An alien running away from the scene suddenly bumped into him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

When Ben approached the alien, it only became terrified and ran away shouting.

"There's a Jighantik nearby! Everyone, run for your lives!"

Ben only scratched his head at what had happened.

"Jighantik? Hey, Rook what's that?"

Rook who was busy fighting the Bandersnatch responded and glanced at him.

"They're one of the 'parasite races' in the Milky Way alongside- Oh no, Ben… you're transformed into one!"

"Really? This guy's species name is cool already and I might not need to name him differently."

A laser blast came from behind Ben, knocking him a few distance away.

"Done talking now? Hah, let's start the real fight!"

When the woman charged at him, Ben grabbed her in the neck.

She broke free by expanding her Territory, separating her to Ben.

However, Ben's transformed appearance began to morph hideously, growing four arachnid appendages on his back as well as his arms turning into like those and finally having a mouth.

His consciousness became hazy for a bit but then cleared a moment later.

"Damn, I felt like I was not myself earlier... So this guy changes form after absorbing energy huh…. Quite dangerous. Anyways, who are you?"

Ben looked at the woman who is still smiling like a maniac.

"I am Adeptus 3, Jessica Bailey, the world's third strongest wizard! I will end you here and present that transformation to Wescott-sama!"

Jessica attacked again only to be blocked by the appendages on Ben's back. He was knocked back by the continuous attacks that followed.

"She's fast but not on the same level as Elen's… Maybe I could beat her with the help of 'that'."

Ben looked at a power generator just in his right side and then approached it.

"I'll only take a little bit of electricity…"

Ben absorbed from the generator which caused his appearance to change again. This time, the appendages from his back were gone and he grew in size, sporting six insectoid legs with a retractable stinger within the tail.

"Cool! Now your name is Gigantick"

Gigantick aimed his stinger to Jessica only to be blocked by her Territory.

"HAHAHA! Just like what I expected from you, Ben Tennyson, you are really a worthy opponent! Now die! Galatine!"

The wings of her armor merged, forming a large crimson broadsword, Galatine, which was her Combat Realizer, Gawain's ultimate armament.

She was propelled mid-air by the leg thrusters of her armor into Ben's direction.

Ben however, switched into Spidermonkey to evade the slash.

"Whoa. That was close."

Bfore Jessica could swing her sword another time, Spidermonkey entangled her with webs.

"Give up, you're defeated."

Jessica only laughed at him and looked above Ben.

"Ben there's another one and she's fast approaching you!"

Curved laser beams came from every direction, surrounding Ben who quickly switched Diamondhead to refract the blasts but injured himself in doing so.

Jessica was taken away by the new Wizard and was freed from entanglement.

When Ben looked up to find out who it was, he was surprised to see a young girl only two or three years younger than him, wearing a white and blue CR-Unit.

When they're gazes met, the young girl then flew off carrying Jessica with her hands.

Diamondhead transformed back with Rook approaching him.

"Mr. Baumann's safe and the enemies are retreating now. The Plumbers will arrive in a few minutes. Let's check on Gwen now."

Ben nodded and the two departed using the Proto-TRUK.

 **Part 2**

At Hex's secret library,

"I have some grave news for you, Ben. Professor Albert was killed."

Hex's news had made Ben and Rook surprised.

"Are you sure about it, Professor Hex? Maybe he too was abducted by Natsumi."

Rook said so, but Hex shook his head.

"No, he was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot wound to his head."

"Damn. DEM has finally found him because of helping us. This is my fault…"

Ben covered his face due to feeling guilty about Albert's death.

"He gave these papers to me yesterday afternoon though. This is all the information he had gathered from DEM's files."'

Hex placed the pile of paper in the nearby computer and Ben stood up and approached the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll look for Gwen. She's the likely target now."

Hex nodded and placed back the book he was holding into its rightful shelf.

"Regarding Gwendolyn though, she's acting weird earlier in the class. Her eagerness and curiosity regarding magical artifacts were off-charts compared to her normal attitude. Maybe she's just studying really hard but there is a possibility that she's not Gwendolyn."

"I get it. Leave this to me."

Ben nodded and walked outside when Rook called for him

"I'll tag along, Ben."

"No Rook, you stay here and help Hex with reading the files. I'll search for Natsumi myself."

Ben transformed into XLR8 and began searching for Gwen.

He ran through the corridors and checked the rooms one by one, but still can't find Gwen. However, he saw Gwen exiting from the Infirmary.

XLR8 reverted back to Ben and approached Gwen who looked surprised.

"Gwen! We've been finding for you everywhere!"

"Oh, sorry. I feel really dizzy today. Shouldn't have come to school today…"

'Gwen' placed her left hand into her forehead to ease the pain from a headache.

"Are you okay, Gwen?"

Ben said with a worried voice. There was bigger why he did this though and now he is certain that this is not Gwen.

(Just like I thought, she's Natsumi. Otherwise, she'll react to me calling her just 'Gwen'.)

Ben thought to himself and gestured to 'Gwen' to follow him.

"So, where are we going exactly?"

"To Hex's library. We need some help deciphering ancient mystic symbols of some sort, you know about them right?"

'Gwen' smiled wryly at him.

"Err…I'll do what I can."

Her answer is the final assertion Ben needed to prove that this is really Natsumi.

(You've been tricking us for days now, it's time for us to counterattack.)

When the two of them went back to the library, the mana sensor beeped loudly, displayed on its screen were large traces of spiritual residue in the room.

"W-What was that?"

'Gwen' frantically said.

"Don't mind it, they're just testing the fire alarm."

After saying that, Ben locked the door behind and dialed his Omnitrix to transform into Wildmutt.

"Ben what are you trying to do!?"

"Gwarar!"

Wildmutt backed away and transformed back. He looked to Rook who nodded and aimed the Proto-Tool to the imposter Gwen.

"You can drop the act now, Natsumi."

Natsumi who was disguised at Gwen, widened her eyes due to the situation she's currently in.

"Just give up. This is my win"

"…uh"

Her broom, Haniel, showed up and its tip was pointed to Ben. It then began wriggling awkwardly.

A few moments after Haniel began shaking intensely, its mirror tip began cracking and then released a light enough to blind everyone in the room.

"Kuh──!?"

"What's Happening!?"

"You won't escape….!"

The light immediately dissipated, leaving all the other people in the room beside Natsumi to experience an impaired visual though Ben got his eyes used to it now.

In this moment, Ben noticed the two missing people who was not here before, Gwen and Kevin, who was lying on the floor.

They were the ones who were imprisoned by Haniel.

"Gwen! Kevin! You guys are alright!?"

After Ben shouted at them, Gwen pressed her head and raised her body with Kevin's support who too was still dizzy.

"That felt like a very bad dream. Ugh…..."

"I thought we were forever imprisoned there, thanks Ben."

Ben smiled back and was scratching head as to gesture that it's nothing.

On Ben's left side however was a familiar yet different silhouette.

"Is that…?"

"Natsumi…...?"

There was one girl sitting in the floor other than them. It was a girl with a large witch hat.

And the moment he saw the Natsumi who was covered by a large hat,

"Wha──!?"

Ben let out a surprised voice which differed from the tense and serious atmosphere of the room.

The reason for this was that the girl lying on the floor right now just in front of him was not the Natsumi he knew in his memories.

She has a petite body. Her skin is pale which made her look like ill and her small stature looked even smaller due to being sitted. She has thick eyebrows which are frowning right now, making her appear gloomy and depressed. Her hair color was the same as the Natsumi from before but was messy and untended instead of a flowing silky hair.

The girl over there doesn't seemed like the seductive Natsumi at all.

"A-Are you really Natsumi?"

Ben said so with a confused look. This however, caused Natsumi to made a shock expression and touched her face.

"W-WHA….!?"

She then shouted so loud that it drained all colors from her hunched her back even more to hide her figure with her hat.

"So that was…."

"So I'm correct, eh."

While Ben is still confused, Hex placed his hand in front of his chin and made a smug expression.

"That's her 'secret', none other than her real form."

Ben widened his eyes at the sudden realization.

Natsumi raised her right hand while hiding herself with her hat.

"Haniel!"

Haniel floated in front of the room and repaired the broken mirror shards back into its tip.

Natsumi's body then glowed and her silhouette transformed into a matured woman, the Natsumi from the previous encounter.

Natsumi glared at everyone present in the room before speaking in an angered voice full of hatred.

"You all found out huh… You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! You found out! ALL OF YOU FOUND OUUUTTTTTTTTTTT!"

She then grabbed Haniel while continue speaking.

"Not just once, but twice…. you saw it….my secret…! I won't forgive you. I will never forgive you. Each one of you, I won't let this just past byyyyyyy!"

"Haniel!"

When Natsumi shouted, Haniel's tip shone with a bright light that filled the room easily.

"Again…..!?"

Ben closed his eyes in reflex

Hex muttered something but Ben couldn't hear it.

"Tch."

After Natsumi saw that everyone was not there, she blew up the wall and escaped from there.

 **Part 3**

"W-Where am I….?"

When Ben looked at his surrounding he saw the other people that was with him in that room however,

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA….!?"

Gwen screamed upon looking at herself in a mirror. She was turned into her appearance of seven years ago.

"What had happened to me!?"

Gwen said so while raising her voice.

"She placed a curse on us that will turn us like her, a child."

The person who spoke was none other than Hex whose age were also reduced.

"Agh…. She's gotten away too. Can you stand there, pal?"

"Sure."

Rook lend Kevin a hand to stand up but then Kevin slipped from a nearby rock and fell down again after seeing what had happened to Gwen.

"Gwen! Are you alright!?"

"Except that I turned into a kid."

Ben who had saw what had happened to Gwen couldn't help but laugh

"Looks like you turned back to your dweeb self."

"Shut up, Ben! You're not helping."

"Anyway, we need to find Natsumi as soon as possible before DEM could get their hands on her."

Rook said that and Ben nodded.

"I'm going to give that witch a beat-up in our second encounter."

Gwen annoyingly said while clenching her fists.

A few moments after, Kevin answered a call from his phone. Everyone, except Hex, looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"It's Argit!"

Kevin put the call into loudspeaker so that everyone could hear them.

"H-Help me! The, DEM, they've found me! Please Kevin, help me!"

The call ended as soon as it started making Ben and Rook tilt their heads.

 **Part 4**

A tense atmosphere filled the dim lit corridor inside the DEM Industries American branch.

It was the atmosphere that fills one's self with a feeling of killing intent.

There were two people walking in that corridor: one was a redhead woman in her mid to late twenties and a young girl that seemed to in her middle school. Both of them were two of DEM's best Wizards bearing the callsign of Adeptus-2 and 3 respectively.

"Mana Takamiya I'm asking you for the last time, why didn't you kill him? He's nothing but a hindrance to our missions!"

The one who were raising her voice was none other than Adeptus-3, Jessica Bailey.

"I only fight Spirits. Whether it is an alien or a human transforming into one, I couldn't care less. Also, the only objective given to me was to pick you up."

The one who responded was Mana Takamiya, the Wizard bearing the callsign Adeptus-2 which is just below Elen's level.

Mana hurried walking and separated away from Jessica.

 _Useless hag._ That's what she thought to herself regarding Jessica.

After reaching into a room, Mana seated into one of the front seats and bean listening to the instructions given by the mission supervisor in front.

They were mission instructions to delay Ben Tennyson from reaching the Spirit codenamed Witch as Adeptus-1 is hunting it.

"There were changes in the mission however, Adeptus-3 will no longer be a part of the main confrontation and will be moved into patrolling the nearby area to engage any Pumbers that will arrive.

Jessica, who was still in the process of entering the room, slammed it open. Hearing those changes made her throw a tantrum at the supervisor.

"What!? Do you know who I am!? I am Adeptus-3, third-strongest Wizard! To place me into a patrol was nothing but humiliation!"

The supervisor remained calm and composed even after hearing Jessica's rant.

"Those were direct orders from Adeptus-1 herself. And that these Plumbers are not to be taken lightly. They're armed with alien weaponry that's why they won't be just a pushover."

Jessica didn't respond anymore and just walked out of the briefing room.

Several minutes had passed and the briefing came to an end.

 **Part 5**

"Are you sure Argit is here?"

"Yeah. This is where the call was made."

It was a large abandoned building, a factory of some sort.

What came out of the shadows was Argit who was panic and running away from something

Kevin grabbed him by his jacket and raised him into the air.

"What's happening here, Argit!?"

"Those Wizard guys have found me and they're trying to kill me!"

As soon as he said that, there were multiple people behind them and their numbers were dominated by females. This scene made Argit's eye widen.

"I know where Natsumi is so let's leave!"

Argit said that in a panic causing him to be dropped in the ground.

"This area is strictly off-limits to civi── It's Ben Tennyson! Adeptus-2 and the other squad are still not here!"

"Forget about them, we'll just explain it to them earlier… we just can't let them escape!"

DEM's squad were arguing whether to capture them or not. This however, gave them necessary time to escape.

"Sorry, but we're leaving. Abeo Exorior!"

After Gwen declared that, a large dome of mana engulfed them. The dome then blurred together with them inside and then disappeared completely

"Viper-1 to Adeptus-2. The targets have escaped using some sort of magic. Proceed immediately here."

"Adeptus-2 to Viper-1. No need to come there. The targets are just in front of me."

What Mana has said over the comm was true since the immediate location that Gwen had teleported them were just in front of Mana Takamiya and her squad.

"Oh crap. Do it again, Gwen!"

"Don't rush me you jerk!"

An opening was created due to Ben and Gwen's quarrel that made it possible for Mana to destroy the mana dome and prevent them from escaping.

"Sorry to tell but, you have to fight me first. I too don't want to do so but orders are orders."

After saying that, the shield parts of her CR-Unit located on the top of her shoulders slide down into her arms with beam blades emitting from the end of both parts.

Mana rushed through Ben and made a slicing stance. This was dodged however by Ben who transformed into Fasttrack.

Fasttrack kicked Mana in the groin but as expected, she was protected by a Territory. She was still thrown away nonetheless.

Rook fired off his Proto-Tool aimed at one of the Wizards which was then deflected by a Territory.

Kevin too was knocked back by a heavy beam fire that shattered his steel coat.

"Damn those Realizers… How can we attack them if we can't hit them!?"

"Leave this to me. Amplusmica!"

Gwen releases a cloud of golden powder that made the Territory of the enemy Wizards into flowers.

"Great. As expected of Gwen."

Kevin leaped into one of the Wizards and absorbed the metallic material of their Realizers and knocked it into the ground.

"Now we're equal."

Four wizards approached and encircled Gwen and Hex.

"Just give up, kids. We won't hurt you if you just behave."

One of them which annoyed Hex.

"Let's see what these kids can do!"

Hex looked at Gwen who nodded in response.

" Adfishio Potentia!"

Multiple beams of purple-colored energy shoot out from both of their hands. Those who timed their activation of Territory too were blown out and the others who didn't had gotten their Realizers destroyed.

"This would lead to nowhere if all you can do is dodge."

Fasttrack was running in circles to avoid getting hit by Mana's homing lasers.

"Those toys of hers really are a nuisance."

The rays following him finally caught up and converged into his position. Before Fasttrack could be hit, a green light flashed and transformed him into Chromastone which fired them back to Mana.

"Tch."

Mana deployed her Territory to defend herself from Chromastone's beams.

"Oh, so you can counter efficiently. As expected from a renowned hero…"

Her words fell to deaf ears as Chromastone continued firing his UV rays.

"Viper-1 to Adeptus-2, don't let the target escape since Adeptus-1 is now closing in to the target."

"Natsumi!"

Chromastone who had heard that while engaging Mana, broke from their clash and picked up Argit.

"Natsumi's in danger now, we're leaving."

"Yes! Wait for me Natsuuumiiiiiiiiiii!"

(Argit is somewhat heavy)

Chromastone flew off into the direction Argit pointed.

"The target is flying! Don't let him escape! Open Fire!"

Several bullets were aimed at Chromastone which now disrupts his flight pattern.

"These guys really don't like giving up."

Chromastone generated an energy shield around them and continued flying faster and hid within the tall buildings.

"What are you fools doing!? The target has been lost! Where are you going, Adeptus-2?"

"Pursuing the target."

Mana flew off after declaring that.

It was a destroyed mansion which is now an empty lot that Argit lead Ben.

Ben reverted back and scanned the area, finding no one.

"Are you sure Natsumi is in here? This place just looks like a ruin anyway…"

"Of course. This place however, will be your grave."

Argit covered his face with his right hand as if to pull his face off. In that moment though──

"An ID Mask!? Elen!"

What appeared in place of Argit was Elen Mira Mathers who disguised herself with an ID Mask.

"How did you get one of those and where's Argit?"

Ben raised him voice that was tinged with anger.

"Look above"

"Mmmmm….!"

Hanged in the ceiling was Argit whose mouth was duct taped.

"Now that you've reunited with your rat friend, you can both enjoy your last moments together."

Elen revealed an evil smile and pointed up to the clock in the upper part of a wall, it was a bomb with the timer remaining only at 20 seconds.

Elen took off leaving both Argit and Ben in the mercy of the time bomb.

15 seconds remaining.

"Damn, who should I pick!?"

The remaining time is only 10 seconds but Ben still couldn't think of what to do as Clockwork is too slow to do the job.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

"Damn it. Alien X!"

Ben transformed into a jet black humanoid resembling the deep space in color and having what appears to be tiny stars scattered throughout his body, making him seemed like a humanoid observable universe. It was Ben's most powerful alien transformation, Alien X.

As the time reached exactly at zero and detonated, Alien X stopped the time and rescued Argit from the ensuing explosion.

He then resumed it back and the explosion leveled the whole place.

Alien X reverted back and Ben freed Argit.

"Took you so long, Benjamin. Anyways, let's go find Natsumi before Elen could kill her! Please!"

Argit bowed his head to Ben to show he really meant his pleading.

"Are you sure? And do you know where she is now?"

"That's…."

Ben sighed at the situation they're currently in.

"So you don't know where she is now?"

"That's only because Elen took my Natsumi tracker!"

Ben laughed at what Argit had said only for Argit to grew impatient and smacked him.

"Will you help me or what!?"

Ben get up after taking the hit in his face and now seeing how serious Argit is.

"Your devotion to that bitch really is something. Anyway, do you have anything we can use to trace Elen down?"

"Here. I took it from her during my stay in DEM's jail."

Argit presented a black and blue handkerchief to him that he presumed to be belonging to Elen's

"Good."

Ben transformed into Wildmutt and gestured Argit to ride in his back.

"Your knight will be right there so wait for me Natsumi!"

After declaring so, Wildmutt began running in the streets, freaking out the pedestrians and motorists alike.

On the of a building far from Ben's current location was Natsumi, riding her magic broomstick, Haniel, and was killing time by watching the city below.

Her current form was a beautiful woman whose age were around mid-twenties wearing the attire of a stereotypical witch. Her body proportions are on the level that would make a man charmed within seconds of glancing her, especially her slender limbs and rich chest. She was peeking on the city streets below using a giant telescope she transformed using an I-beam steel when she saw a large muscular, dog-like creature running in the streets while approaching the direction of the building she's currently atop into.

"So our hero-san finally found out where I am huh, he's still after me even after exposing secret! Would you believe that! He's just wasting his energy and effort finding me since I won't forgive him anyway."

Just a couple of hours ago, her secret was exposed by none other than Ben after ending their game.

She sighed and dismounted from Haniel to held it in her hands upside-down.

"Maybe I should research more on Ben-kun to know what should I transform next."

Natsumi made a mischievous smile and inside her were thoughts of how to harass Ben beginning to flow.

She prefers something that will drive him mad and destroy his status in the society as a superhero. She's planning to do it until Ben would be unable to go outside without receiving humiliation from the public. One of her thoughts include transforming into one of his alien forms and burn police stations and the other was scattering the clothes of any women he saves to give him a criminal record of molesting.

So many ideas popped out in her mind and she was lost in thoughts. At that moment, while Natsumi is showing a clearly nasty expression, she narrowed her eyes and changed her expression into a serious one.

"Something is going this way…!"

She hesitated at first but then realized that there really is something trying to get into her now.

"Did Ben-kun already found where I am?"

Natsumi clicked her tongue. The possibility of that happening was not zero. She recalled that Ben could transform just like her and she somewhat guessed that Ben has a transformation that could track her down. Even though Wildmutt still haven't noticed where she is, she can't deny the possibility of him tracking her down.

"I'm sorry but, our game already ended earlier this day."

Natsumi winked at the unseen pursuer and rode Haniel

"Hmph…"

Haniel then flew upwards with a speed that can outpace any human being. Natsumi imagined Ben's lackeys tiring themselves while trying to pursue her and laughed at that sudden thought.

The surrounding scenery was that of a forest clearing that is near to one of the secret passages toward the southern part of Undertown.

"I guess this place is enough for a hideout."

She didn't bother measuring how much time had passed after she flew away. She didn't think of where to go first but just to add in her safety, she landed to what she thought were an inhabited woodland.

Now that there are traps waiting for Ben to fall into, she's thinking of revising her methods of harassing Ben. However, she couldn't think of any more and forced a tired laugh.

"Haha….. hahhh…. It shouldn't end like this that's why I need to think carefully."

The moment she said that, Natsumi felt that something is aimed at her and backed away.

The next moment, the boulder Natsumi sat at turned into a small crater as a ball of light was fired to it.

"──!?"

Was I tailed? That fast!? Natsumi's face showed an astonished expression that changed into a feerless smile instantly. She of course wouldn't let her opponent see her weak composure.

"That as one hell of surprise even on Ben's comrades."

She said that wore a smug expression to look directly in the origin of the attack.

When she did that, a floating figure was looking directly at Natsumi with a cold gaze tinged with pure killing intent and was slowly descending into the ground.

It was a woman in her mid to late twenties wearing a silver CR-Unit around her body. She has a pale blonde hair, and blue eyes. Her face was comparable to a porcelain doll but her surrounding aura was not that of a lovely lady but rather bearing the atmosphere of a hungry beast looking at her prey.

"Too bad, I am not Ben Tennyson's comrade"

"Is that so? Then the AST? The SSS? The Plumbers? Or maybe the DEM? Well, whatever. I don't care. What do you need from me anyway?"

"Something you know"

After Natsumi said that, the girl pulled out a large broadsword equipped on her back while replying.

"You're my prey, Witch."

After Elen announced that, Natsumi opened her eyes wide for an instant, before immediately laughing.

"Scary. But I think your effort chasing me here is futile. Also, I really hate that Witch name, will you call me Natsumi properly?"

Natsumi shrugged and was obviously testing Elen's patience. One could imagine that she really isn't that cautious of the woman just opposite her or maybe she really thought that this woman would never lose.

Elen knitted her eyebrows unpleasantly.

"Let's see once I tried."

Natsumi pointed her broom towards Elen. This broom, Haniel, has the power to change the target into whatever the user wants.

It really is an annoying ability but that much won't be a problem against her. Elen made a stance and activated the laser blade of Caledvwlch that she holds in her hand.

Elen disrupted Haniel's casting by knocking Natsumi's aim and followed it with a slash. This however, was blocked by Natsumi using Haniel to parry the blade. Elen and Natsumi's sights blended.

After that exchange, a few wizards landed behind Elen. They were a group of wizards that were pursuing Witch and finally caught up with them.

"You all are late."

"I-Im very sorry, Elen-sama! But we couldn't keep up with that speed!'

Elen made a small sigh from that honest reply.

"Anyways, don't stand in the way of my battle."

After Elen said that, the wizards pulled out their weapons and focused their sights into Natsumi.

Natsumi however, chuckled in response.

"Do you really think you can take me on alone? You're really a fool!"

"Don't worry, I'll give you the greatest challenge you've ever had.'

"I don't really care so, bleh."

At that moment, Natsumi aimed Haniel once again.

Several gusts of wind and several beams of mana assaulted Elen and her subordinates.

This doesn't seem to break Elen's composure and modified her territory into the direction of the blasts while in mid-air. Her subordinates too distanced their selves to each other to avoid the attack.

"Mou….!?"

The scattered wizards fired several micro missiles at Natsumi. The missiles where filled by channeled mana that the Realizers converts from the surrounding. They all approached Natsumi's direction.

"Fufu."

Even when faced by a barrage of missiles, Natsumi's fearless smile didn't waver and aimed Haniel into it while raising her voice.

"Haniel!"

Its mirror tip shone a bright light but the wizards found that the light weren't blinding. The moment the missiles made contact with the light released from Haniel, they were transformed into numerous sweets ranging from candies to chocolates.

"How sweet. Presenting me with candies!"

Natsumi activated Haniel once more and this time, Elen knitted her eyebrows from the feeling she is experiencing with her body now. Her sights were severely lowered.

"U-uwahhh!?"

"Wha-what is this….!"

At the same time, screams were coming from left and right from the wizards deployed in the area.

She looked at them and confirmed that her subordinates were but only found unfamiliar children in their place. That's when the realization hit her and that she along with subordinates were turned into children by Natsumi.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

Natsumi laughed hard and was holding her stomach.

"Don't get so confident."

"Heee? What can you even do, kiddo. Just go home and cry at nanny. Fufufufufu"

Elen narrowed her eyes, and scanned her whole body to check her condition and achieve a state of order in her mind to control her Territory. Muscle mass, bone density, metabolism rate, reflex time, various more, she grasped all that in an instant. All of her abilities where lowered and she even guessed that her reflexes were devolved. A very annoying power.

"This form is enough to kill you."

Ellen gripped Caledfwlch's handle with both hands and kicked the sky. She then closed in at Natsumi within an instant.

"Eh-?"

Natsumi was shocked at Elen's sudden attack and opened her eyes wide

Ellen didn't look and swung the Caledfwlch.

"Eh…., Eh…?"

She has no idea what had happened just now.

The moment the girl called Ellen brandished her sword, a burning feeling passed through her chest to her stomach-and Natsumi fell.

In the middle of losing conciousness, Natsumi slowly placed her hands on the part of her

stomach which was hit-and a large amount of blood enough to make it dark red was what she saw in her hand.

"Ha…."

The moment Natsumi saw that, an extreme pain that burns ran through her body.

"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts …!"

"A-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..!?"

Natsumi screamed from the excruciating pain that she has never felt before.

However, the repeatedly pulse of stimulation continued exploding within her and it did not allow her to pass out.

"No-way…wha, what is this…."

The attack Elen made by swinging her sword has caused a deep cut on Natsumi's body.

And the moment after that, Ellen's body glowed and turned back into her normal body.

Most likely is that Natsumi's powers wears off to unimportant targets if she received damage. This is because Natsumi's mature body transformation was still intanct.

"Looks like your power is the one to weaken now. What to do next I wonder. To be honest I want you take you alive as a present for Ike but, killing you and taking out your Saphira crystal sounds more interesting"

Elen said that with an indifference in it. Natsumi squeezed her voice out from her throat desperately.

"Any…one…...please…...save me…... I…. don't…. want to die…"

"I think that is a choice of putting you into a state of not feeling pain by subjecting you to more pain until you get used to it."

At the same time Ellen said that, her subordinates who also returned to normal grouped together behind her.

"Executive chief. What should we do?"

"Let's bring her back alive. She's not going anywhere with that injury but with her annoying ability, It maybe better to just cut off her limbs in case"

"!?"

After Natsumi heard that, she distanced herself from Elen but couldn't back away as much as she wants due to not having enough strength

"Your suffering will end soon, so please endure it for a bit."

Ellen said that like a concerned nurse to someone being dissected in an operating room.

"-!"

She closed her eyes in reflex and grinded her teeth to withstand the pain that follows.

Right hand? Left hand? Right leg? Or maybe the left leg…? Which one would she cut?

Natsumi said so while panicking.

Ellen swung her sword downward.

But-

"ELEN!"

A flash of green light shone in the distance which rapidly increased in size until it revealed a colossal humanoid sporting the color of red, white, and black and having a crest on top of his head. That was one of Ben's transformations, Way Big, who was propelled by the momentum from Jetray's flight before he switched.

The massive fist struck Elen who was caught off guard and launched her several meters away.

She vomited blood and thanks to her Territory, the damaged she took from that fist were reduced into bruises although she still felt the force of the attack and that made her collapsed into her knees. If she received that attack without a Territory defending, she would really be squashed and her body would collapse from impact.

The other wizards were too shocked and was apparently frozen in fear before the giant that stood above them.

"B-Ben Tennyson!"

"To think that Elen-sama will be knocked out by a single attack!"

Way Big reverted back which caused him shrink in size and into Ben.

"Are you alright!?"

"Wh-why are you…here….."

Ben only looked at him with a smile of assurance.

"I came here because I am a hero. I wouldn't call myself one if I couldn't even save someone in need."

"Ben! Ha…..Ha…. Natsumi!?"

Argit who had caught up suddenly saw the pool of blood forming beneath Natsumi.

"Natsumi!"

I don't get it. I tried to hurt him and his comrades so why-why would a hero save a villain….

However, Natsumi's thoughts were interrupted the instant Ben called out.

"We'll get you to somewhere safe, okay?"

"Ben…. kun...?"

She couldn't say what she wants to due to losing too much blood and strength.

"I'll have you treated soon, don't worry."

"-Did you think I would let you?"

The one who said that was Elen who was back in her feet. Ben and Argit were surprised that she still somewhat survived that attack from Way Big.

"So even a To'kustar couldn't bring you down! Truly a monster befitting to be the strongest Wizard!"

Argit said so only for Elen to narrow her eyes.

"1 spirit, 1 comic book cliché hero and a nuisance. That seemed to be your best shot, Ben 10. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. If you couldn't even pack that much power with your other forms, there's no way you can escape."

"Let's see about that."

Ben transformed into a humanoid bat-like creature, Whampire.

Whampire launched his Corrupturas into Elen's subordinates, it controlled their bodies as if they were puppets and started to group around Ellen.

"Tsk-"

She clicked her tongue in detest and stepped firmly with one of her legs. She then deployed her Territory to separate her from the other wizards that were approaching like zombies.

But, this seemed to give Ben necessary time for them to escape.

"I'm going to take Natsumi to Azmuth to see if he can help us while you run and inform the others about what had happened."

Argit knitted his eyebrows at what Ben had said.

"If that's the only way to help her then fine."

After receiving his reply, Ben dialed his Omnitrix and transformed once more into Alien X

"You won't escape!"

Elen fired off a beam from Vortigern only for them to be refracted back to her by Alien X.

Alien X then clicked his finger to teleport him and Natsumi away from the area and into Galvan Prime.


End file.
